Better than viagra?

[desertbirds]

Dano hit the nail on the head.Half a dozen young uncoloured diamonds put together can be very prolific.I think they may be one species that really likes a choice of mate,they pick a mate well before colouring up and can do really well in a colony.It seems when you hear people arent going well with them its quite often one pair that they are refering to.

[mickw]

I reckon you & your mate decide who has the best, most secure set-up and put all the birds you can lay your hands on in that aviary......dedicate it entirely to Diamonds, nothing else...........bloody wet there, so make sure the entire roof is covered and floor is gravel or river sand 2-6" deep........

Thats just the start..............Austerity diet from start to about mid wet season (say 2 months roughly), then take the goodies you're using up a notch 1-2 weeks at a time....build it up to replicate nature.....termites if you can find some?

Hang up some chook wire cylinders about 6-8" diam and 12-18" long as well as brush

With possible low fertility one can only recommend absolutely no nest inspection.....just leave them alone

[GregH]

Thanks mickw. That would be my preference too however almost no breeders here have the space or knowledge to run an aviary. I would have preferred that my club mate gave me his cock bird but he said he wanted it to show! I'm the only one that has an aviey and I refuse to show as I find it too stressful capturing birds and that goes for me as well as the birds. Here it's all about showing and so it's no wonder that they're mostly only got zebs and societies left and use them to foster Gouldians. Well I hope to get my main aviry treated for feather mite and then I can put my slimed down birds back in and hopefully get things moving again.

[mickw]

Thats a tough gig Greg...I guess you can only do what you can...so whats the Diamond Sparrow division worth at the Royal Phillipines Bird Club Show

[GregH]

Aint nothing Royal about this place although the President does live in a Palace. Finch shows here are 60% Zebs, 35% Gouldians and the remaining 5% in decreasing oreder of appearance are: Hecks, Stars, Double-bars, Canaries, Cut-throats, Masked, Diamond Sparrows and a couple of relect red-eared cordon cocks. Societies are very common but no one bothers to show them. I came too late to save the Cordons but I don't want my Aussie mates to go extinct here and theyare next on the list.

[mickw]

Good on ya mate, keep trying...........I know you mentioned it once before, what do you think your chances are of ever getting hold of some of your local species?.....ones that maybe are almost entirely unknown to aviculture? .......That would be so cool

[desertbirds]

If there is a few a diamonds around at shows can you possibly purchase a few more ? Surely at the right price someone may be willing to give up a show bird.Sounds like a real challenge.With the Diamonds ive kept,ive noticed they arent overly keen on cucumber or termites.Seed heads seem to be the favourite item and Johnsons grass is ideal.I also rotated pots of rainbow chord (silverbeet like plant).I found that it would wilt quickly and only get nibbled on if i just threw in some leaves.Using pots i found the birds would destroy a pot in a matter of days.

[Myzomela]

Vitamin E is supposed to be helpful, but only if the birds are deficient in their diet.

The reason it is supposed to increase fertility in lorikeets is that most lory diets have excess vitamin A, which interferes with vitamin E absorption.

It is a fat-soluble vitamin, so feeding too much can cause as many problems as not feeding enough.

Most vitamin supplements have reasonable vitamin E levels, and some oils ( wheatgerm I think) also contain it.

Essential fatty acids ( eg omega 3 & 6) can also help as can several of the trace minerals.

Generally, most finch breeders feed plenty of supplements to their birds which cover most of these.

[GregH]

Well I'm grateful for the advice I think my main problem is that we aren't talking logic to the guys that own the birds but greed. They thought I was crazy to give a 6 month old hen away - they would certainly never do it. Almost none come onto the market and when they do the asking price isP10000-12000 a pair (AUD$230-270) which is a fortune to these guys so each bird is potential gold-mine if only they could get them to breed. Hopefully I can breed more this year with my geriatric pair and lead by example.